"Meh" recruits vs Heralded Ones.

[RezClone]

Craig Brackins is someone i feel is a bit underappreciated because his teams were so bad during his ISU time

great recuit that lived up to the hype but those teams were just so boring

Yup. First off, you gotta start with how good the league was at the top in his time here.

Secondly, to get in the weeds a bit, I remember much was made of Mac's calling card being the inside-out, post up and 3 ball game. BUT Craig Brackin's biggest strength was more as a finesse big than a low post power game. He was at his best as a skilled pretty high volume midrange shooter (which he was really really good at) that maybe didn't lend itself to spacing the floor for guys like Staiger and Christopherson from 3 and Garrett for driving lanes the way Mac's system at the time needed it to.

 

[xboxfever]

I don't think Wiggs checked out. He wanted to play and was upset about not starting.
Prohm's rotations were terrible, predictable, and Wiggs sat too much.

Like I said, it's why my opinion mellowed on him. He really was great with ISU fans in Des Moines when he'd come to town for the Bucks affiliate.

Wigginton’s problem was more of his parents being a problem for the coaching staff more than him being a problem. His parents were constantly berating Prohm and staff for not starting him. From my understanding is he was upset for not starting, but he personally wasn’t causing drama and was a team player for the most part still. It was mainly Talen Horton Tucker being the cancer to the team, along with Lard being Lard. Shayok is probably(arguably) best one year transfer in ISU history. He carried that team on his back while also being a leader in what was a tumultuous locker room full of drama, led by a head coach who did nothing to help out.

 

[cyclones500]

Wasnt Dustin Hogue a highly sought after JUCO? Worked out pretty well for us.

Good citation. I don't recall the precise level of buzz for Hogue, but I think he'd qualify as exceeding expectation.

 

[RezClone]

Cook got hurt but wasn’t he a Fred recruit? Maybe I’m wrong

Yeah, off the top of my head I'm fairly certain you are correct, actually.

 

[cyclones500]

Shayok is probably(arguably) best one year transfer in ISU history.

DeAndre Kane arguably, too. I won't deny Shayok is right up there.

 

[ImJustKCClone]

He came back this year for a game and looked great.

I talked to him after the game. Really nice, and very friendly. He loved his time here, and loved Hilton and the fans.

 

[RezClone]

Wasnt Dustin Hogue a highly sought after JUCO? Worked out pretty well for us.

Good citation. I don't recall the precise level of buzz for Hogue, but I think he'd qualify as exceeding expectation.

Yeah, his commitment was long enough ago that it's kind of hard to say the level of interest he attracted overall.

Anecdotally, I do remember he was NOT expected to be a very good shooter and people had concerns about his size listed at a probably generous 6'6. The game was very different at the time and most teams played two true bigs pretty much across the board.

We remember Hogue as the super efficient knock down corner 3 guy he was and the amazing athlete who was one of the best rebounders in school history, period. But at the time I don't think many people here saw that being the case at all and had questions on what position he would play and if he could even guard and hang at the 4.

For those reasons, he wildly exceeded expectations regardless of his level of interest recruiting wise, if you ask me.

 

[MeanDean]

Brad Dudek.

Johnny's first teams were undersized. Was so looking forward to getting a big man for the middle.

Fizzle....

 

[RezClone]

Brad Dudek.

Johnny's first teams were undersized. Was so looking forward to getting a big man for the middle.

Fizzle....

Interesting. Before my time, so what do you think led to him not working out?

 

[coolerifyoudid]

Two that came to mind:

Percy Gibson - He was touted as the best post player in Michigan when we got him. I was excited to have a big lefty that could impose his will down low. I got a guy with limited footwork that couldn't pass out of the post. He had a few solid games his last year here (against Southern and Iowa), but he couldn't quite match up against the better competition.

Shawn Taggart - If he could have reached his senior year potential (with Memphis) earlier when he was here with Stinson, Blaylock and Clark, that already great team would have been really special. Him transferring out probably was probably one of my more upsetting transfer-outs until Hunter..

 

[cyfanatic]

Shawn Taggart - If he could have reached his senior year potential (with Memphis) earlier when he was here with Stinson, Blaylock and Clark, that already great team would have been really special. Him transferring out probably was probably my more upsetting transfer-outs until Hunter..

It should have been a huge signal as what was to follow...GMac just couldn't run with those types of talents!

 

[RezClone]

Two that came to mind:

Percy Gibson - He was touted as the best post player in Michigan when we got him. I was excited to have a big lefty that could impose his will down low. I got a guy with limited footwork that couldn't pass out of the post. He had a few solid gamed his last year here (against Southern and Iowa), but he couldn't quite match up against the better competition.

Shawn Taggart - If he could have reached his senior year potential (with Memphis) earlier when he was here with Stinson, Blaylock and Clark, that already great team would have been really special. Him transferring out probably was probably my more upsetting transfer-outs until Hunter..

Yeah, Percy was just not an explosive athlete. Smooth, but deliberate. He was big, but not overly so where he would have success off that alone. He also had problems keeping the ball high.

He was at his best playing off of Royce White's greatness, but you probably could have put just about any big there and have similar results. But he did seem to work well without the ball and have good bball IQ, so credit to him for that.

To your point about competition, I think he transferred down to Detroit Mercy or something like that. Unfortunately, bigs at his size are still really hard to project unless they are a lot bigger.

 

[Grayernotmayor]

Wasnt Dustin Hogue a highly sought after JUCO? Worked out pretty well for us.

Fairly unheralded out of juco. Main two offers were us - and Iowa. He made a good decision.

 

[PredominantISU]

Cook got hurt but wasn’t he a Fred recruit? Maybe I’m wrong

Looked at his player profile on ISUs website and he was a Hoiberg recruit but due to the transfer rules at the time he had to redshirt during CFH last year. He played his only year in a Cyclones uniform during CSPs first year. Granted that team was loaded but he only averaged 2.5 points and shot 35% which is honestly probably better than I remembered.

 

[CloneFan65]

Sam Mack was a highly touted recruit who was a bust of sorts, not due to his performance on the court, but due to off the court issues.

 

[dafarmer]

I'd say Lard was a bust. In and out of CSP's dog house and could hardly stay on the floor. One of the bigger 'what ifs' in recent ISU lore because his natural ability looked sky high. Even though he was mainly around the basket occasionally he had a nice jumper and could move really well.

I wouldn't call Wigginton a bust; he was really impactful both years he was at ISU and had some huge moments. He just seemed to have one foot out the door the whole time and looked like it at times; and I don't blame him as there were indications that he didn't really know what his role was or why he was coming off the bench, etc.

BDJ and McKay were reportedly in that 'needs to be babysat' category which is kind of weird from all sorts of angles but perhaps what we saw was about as good as it was going to get.

I remember some play where BDJ got knocked down or something and came back up looking agitated and his teammates circled around him to try to calm him down. That's hard on a team.

I don’t know if Lard was as much of a bust; or that CSP coaching skills with him were lacking.

 

[CyNews]

No way you can say that Shayok left us wanting more. He was a spectacular one-year player for us.

To your main point, yeah it’s always hard to predict how an incoming player will turn out. I’m just going to trust TJ at this point. He’s done a remarkable job so far.

Shayok was great for ISU!

 

[rosshm16]

It should have been a huge signal as what was to follow...GMac just couldn't run with those types of talents!

Taggart was a Wayne Morgan recruit I think.

 

[Chitowncy]

Yup. First off, you gotta start with how good the league was at the top in his time here.

Secondly, to get in the weeds a bit, I remember much was made of Mac's calling card being the inside-out, post up and 3 ball game. BUT Craig Brackin's biggest strength was more as a finesse big than a low post power game. He was at his best as a skilled pretty high volume midrange shooter (which he was really really good at) that maybe didn't lend itself to spacing the floor for guys like Staiger and Christopherson from 3 and Garrett for driving lanes the way Mac's system at the time needed it to.

Craig Brackins was definetely a success obviously and lived up to expectations.

I would LOVE to have Craig Brackins on next year's team. Man, could you imagine our ceiling to get him in on next year's roster as our last transfer? He's big, can rebound, I'm sure would improve and ratchet up his defensive intensity with TJ and crew as his coach, and then could hit mid-range and other jumpers, and his little hook / low-post all day and pass from the top of the key. He would stretch the D in ways Rob Jones and Hason Ward weren't able to unfortunately. Wow! The team would be more dynamic. A "small ball" line-up of Brackins, Momcilovic, Lipsey, C Jones and Gilbert would really be able to put up some points.

Can't help but dream! It would be amazing to pick-up a big man pro like him who can score for next year's team!

 

[cyfanatic]

Taggart was a Wayne Morgan recruit I think.

He was...but GMac is the coach who ran him off...